Near Miami Dade Community College North Campus, anybody know the name of the drive in theatre between NW 119 St and NW 135 St on NW 27 th Ave? I remember it was a XXX Adult drive in theatre then became an Used Car lot in the 80’s.

Al is correct as far as the hose goes, but the diameter was much bigger than an ordinary air hose used to fill your tires. The hose was more like the vacuum hoses you now see at gas stations. The 27th Avenue Drive In featured an ac unit where the cold air was blown into the car via a large 6 inch diameter tube. The tube was connected to a plastic flange that fit just right when you closed your car window. We used to put it on the back seat because the air would freeze you to death if you put it on the driver’s window. Our station wagon’s layout was idea for this purpose.

This was not the way Drive-Ins in Florida were air conditioned. Next to your speaker there was a an air tube (similar to what you use to put air into your tires)which you brought into your car and then closed all the windows. Closed windows are important at Florida Drive-Ins due to mosquitos and flying palmetto bugs (large winged cockroaches).

A quote from Kerry Segrave’s book “Drive-In Theatres” – A history from their inception in 1933 (published by McFarland & Co 1992):–

One of the attempts to air condition the great ourdoors was seen in 1953 at Phoenix, AZ, Cinema Park Drive-In. A number of fouteen foot poles were installed on the lot. Each was topped by vertically mounted propeller blades behind water pipes containing tiny holes. With the blades whirring around, water was forced up the pipes, out of the holes, and then blown across the lot in the form of a fine mist. It caused the temperature to drop, said the marketers, several degrees. A few years later a similar invention was announced. Again it was a tall pole with baldes mounted on top, horizontally this time. The idea was to circulate the air, thus lowering the humidity. Models were said to be available especially to control fog and mist as well as humidity. These units called “Fogmaster” and “Weathermaster”, could operate successfully over several acres or more. Another feature touted was that it helped overcome the mosquito nuisance. Presumably they blew them away!

Seemingly all attempts to control the climate to their patrons, greater comfort have been singularly unsuccessful.